A Dream Or Two Realized
by TheRedhood908
Summary: Shipwreck lost his family, even if they weren't real. It was all strip away from him, a gift given and cruelly taken by Cobra. However, can a mishap lead to happiness for the hapless sailor after all?


"What was in there Shipwreck?" Lady Jaye asks, her hand going to the sailor's shoulder and gently grasping it. Something was wrong. She knew that much. She knew her friends and fellow soldiers well and Shipwreck was not a man prone to emotional outbursts. The cry he had let out upon seeing the home he was being held in burst into flames was uncharacteristic of the man, unless he was experiencing a deep pain.

The sound of footsteps on the gravel behind them interrupted her, and she turns to see Flint coming up, also moving onto his knees and placing his hand on the man's other shoulder. "Shipwreck. Glad we found you. Cobra sure hid this place well. Damn, well glad you're okay buddy" he says with a smile, receiving no response from the nearly catatonic man. This, alongside a side glance at Lady Jaye, tells him that something was wrong. "Shipwreck?" He asks again as the man's arm slowly falls down from its previous position, pointing at the burning house. With a loud crash the foundation gives way, the whole building crashing in on itself.

"Shipwreck? What was in there?" Lady Jaye asks, repeating her question, this time much more gently. Shipwreck opens his mouth to respond, a few tears beginning to leak out of his tear ducts before he wipes them away and moves to stand up, assisted by his two friends. "Nothing. Just a dream or two."

He turns and begins to walk towards the edge of what had formerly been, or at least what he had believed to have formerly been, his driveway. Without another word, only a side glance at each, Lady Jaye and Flint followed behind. They knew something awful had happened to their friend. No jokes, no celebration over winning? Yes, something was definitely wrong with Shipwreck.

_**Four Miles Away-Cobra Mobile Command**_

"You fool Mindbender! An utter failure, once again. We found out nothing of the Joe's plans and wasted millions in this little ploy. And on what? The buffoon sailor?" screams the commanding voice of the now infuriated Baroness. The woman, clad in her black jumpsuit that only accentuated her curves, paced back and forth in front of the Synthoid projector, a device used to coordinate the actions of the simulacrons within the false village. It was useful for when the G.I Joe known as Shipwreck was in his home.

Dr. Mindbender, Cobra's resident scientist and sadist in one, was no longer going to take the reprimanding tone of the woman who Destro had sent to "observe" his work. The monocled man turns quickly, his cape swinging outwards and unbeknownst to him, catching on the lever that started the Synthoid wave reel, what coordinated the reactions of the synthoids and fed false memories to Shipwreck, or theoretically any subject placed within the confines of the testing area.

"Fool?! Fool?! This was your fault. All things were going well until you arrived here. You have done nothing but undermine my genius!" He shouts, leading to the woman sneering and slapping him fiercely, throwing him back onto the ground and pulling the lever down as his cape pulls it. A beam emits from the projector right at the now fuming Baroness, ready to continue with a fusillade of words at the now cowed doctor.

The beam hits her straight on, aimed directly into her eyes and relaying information directly to her brain in the time it takes her to blink. She is stopped dead in her tracks, mid speech as she stands, a hand outstretched as if to hit the doctor again. She blinks a few times and shakes her head, her hand lowering until she brings it up to rub the side of her head. "Wh-what has happened to me?" She asks nervously, her mind adjusting to whatever information had now been fed to her. It was impossible to tell without a thorough psychological evaluation, a test the now very angry Mindbender was unwilling to give. Let alone for the sake of a rival. Perhaps this little mishap could be useful after all?

The doctor begins to get up, steadying himself on a lab table as he wipes a bit of blood away from his mouth. "Tell me Baroness" he says, spitting out the sentence with venom akin to a real Cobra. "What do you believe has happened to you?" He asks to which the now scared looking woman looks up. That was interesting. He had never seen the usually imperturbable woman scared. "I...I shouldn't be here. I've disrupted your work long enough doctor. Excuse me and please forgive me" she says, turning around and slowly limping out of the room, her hand still on her temple.

"Hmm" the doctor says to himself as he questions what exactly he had seen. "Indeed, very interesting" he says, as if having a conversation with himself. The hit was almost worth it to see the Baroness scared and he had never heard anything closely resembling an apology leave her lips in the years he'd known her. He moves over to the projector, inspecting it for a possible explanation. The lever was turned on, so he flicked it off. When he went to read the reel of what had been implanted in the Baroness' mind he found that the system, a complicated almost self aware A.I, a new invention of the doctor, had wiped away all pertinent information. Instead a loading screen flashed, present on the computer attached to the projector asking for "input".

Mindbender pinches his chin between his thumb and pointer finger before eventually shrugging, finding no reason why he should go to the extra lengths to find out what was happening to the Baroness. Of course this might come down on him later in the form of Destro, the Baroness' cold and uncaring, but possessive, lover. However, the commander's patronage and trust in his abilities would inevitably save him. So would the pictures he had of their dear commander in bed with a rather nasty man's wife, he mused to himself before laughing aloud.

_**G.I Joe Psychiatric Evaluation Center:Subject-Hector Delgado a.k.a Shipwreck**_

Doc looked up from his desk at the man sitting in front of him, arms crossed over his chest and looking nonchalantly out the window. The black man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before trying to speak once more. He had a feeling that he'd have more luck with a brick wall than he was having with Shipwreck. "Hector, what you went through, I doubt it was easy. But what I am saying is that it wasn't real. It was an evil trick. Low down and dastardly. That's what Cobra does, but you can't let that control you buddy" he says receiving nothing more than a nod from the man across from him. "I know Doc".

The response isn't enough. Not nearly enough. It had been a few weeks and Shipwreck wasn't getting any better. Not really. All his teammates knew that something was up. Strangely enough, it was the women of the team who first got concerned about the man. Before all this he'd always been flirtatious, always pestering Scarlett and Cover Girl and to an extent Lady Jaye, well, until Flint sorted him out. But that had stopped. He didn't even seem to acknowledge anyone unless it was necessary for a mission. A nod here or a grunt was really the best everyone got. He wasn't even a weekly member of Gung-Ho's poker games anymore, a fact that was all the more indicative of Shipwreck's mental state. Nothing was pulling him out of it.

The final straw was when he forgot to respond to one of General Hawk's rare jokes. Everyone but Shipwreck laughed, the event being so rare as to make everyone unwilling to acknowledge it when it happened. Doc had witnessed it, how Hawk walked right up to Shipwreck and ordered him, rather gruffly, to undergo a session of therapy with Doc. "Yes sir!" Shipwreck had said then, snapping to attention.

Again, nothing but what was necessary. Hawk was satisfied, passing off this new problem to Doc to take care of.

It was a big red flag that everyone was saying the same thing. "Something's wrong with Shipwreck". He'd heard that sentence about forty times over the past week alone. It took him a few meetings with the sailor until he broke down. Mara, Althea and their lives together. Or rather the lie that had been their life together. It was…..beyond cruel. Especially since it had been done to Shipwreck. Never having been the most open or emotional person, it turned him into even more of a shut in than he normally was. No more jokes, laughter or other avoidance techniques of his.

He'd tried everything.

Talking, thought exercises, hypnotism. Hell if he knew it wouldn't cost him his commission he would have tried voodoo. After the man broke down and let it all out he shut himself in again, erasing all the progress. He had probably violated patients privilege by telling them but the Joes weren't just a team. They were a family. The others needed to know. Doc took aside all his closest friends and told them what was going on. How Cobra had messed with his mind and how their tactics had worsened. The range of expressions were from shock to horror. Scarlett had to control everything in herself to keep from crying for her friend. "Poor Shipwreck" had been the only thing she had said.

Dusty and Gung-Ho had similar reactions. Rage. They were among the few that Shipwreck had confided in about Mara before the incident. They were ready for a raid on Cobra to get some payback but Doc was able to talk them down. Or at least he hoped. Sometimes he missed being in the army. The Joes exercised more autonomy than they probably should have.

Lady Jaye and Flint were just numb to it. They figured something horrible had happened but they didn't know what it could have been. Two more emotional hard cases. He could tell though. Their hearts were just as broken as the entire teams.

He had forbade any of them from letting on that they knew. As far as he knew the order had been followed. Regardless of that, Shipwreck was never left alone. Even though he didn't speak he was flanked at all times by a rotating quartet of Joes, alternating between Dusty, Flint, Gung-Ho and Steeler, and Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Scarlett and Jynx.

It hadn't helped.

He never pushed them away and would often participate in conversations but he was still a shadow of his former self. Losing a wife and child would do that to you, even if they weren't real in the strictest sense of the word.

Doc leans back in his chair and sighs, the silence became overwhelming. Eventually Shipwreck looks back toward the man and nods. "So uhh, we done for today doc? I was hoping to get a drink"

Another thing. Drinking. It wasn't serious. Yet. But he wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

"Actually Shipwreck, I've been speaking to General Hawk about a few things. It's been quiet for the last month or so. Cobra seems to be in hiding, licking its wounds. Aside from that, the government has decided to give us a hard time about accumulated leave. A bunch of Joes have too much of it" he says with a light laugh. The sailor remains silent forcing the laugh to die in his throat. "Anyways" he says continuing, "you're one of the worst offenders. Three years with us and no leave. You have a full month accumulated. So Hawk and I think it would be a good idea for you to get away for a little while. Head home and get some rest. Real rest" he says passing over the official papers that signify Shipwreck's freedom of movement without an AWOL or desertion charge coming down the pipe.

Shipwreck looks at the papers, doing nothing for a minute before taking them. "Whatever Doc. How long do I have to take at once? I don't wanna go for a month" he says to which Doc nods. "Well while I would like it if all of you took your full time, I get it. So say….two weeks? Give it another three months and you'd be eligible for another two weeks anyway so it would be back up to a month. So for now half time. Go home Hector. It's been a while since you've been back in San Diego" he says.

"Alright" he responds, feeling not much of anything.

_**San Diego:Baroness' Safe House Number 23**_

The last month had not been kind to the woman who found herself sitting at a table in her apartment, next to a window and overlooking the water. She was dressed in a skirt and a blouse, a blonde wig fitted to her head to disguise her from any passerby who happened to look up. Not that any would. Cobra didn't know about this hideout of hers. It was one of the five she used for more private issues.

That didn't mean they weren't looking for her.

In fact, Destro would be scouring the entire country for a trace of her. That much she knew. She could almost see the malicious smile of his, plastered across his metallic face as he kicked in the door, his troops entering and opening fire instantly.

She shook this nightmare away. No matter how pervasive it was, she knew it would not come to pass. She was too good for Destro or any one of his goons. However, what she could not shake was what had happened to her. When she left Minbender's lab, her mind was swimming. Filled with memories that were not true. Not real. She knew that it was a mistake of Mindbender's, and if she still had it in her she at the time she would've killed him. But it was as if everything that was her was scooped out and taken away, replaced with something else. Memories of a childhood and a man. A specific man.

She shook her head, trying to push these memories away. Or were they just lies? Could you remember lies as something that happened? Or did they remain lies? She did not want to call them delusions. No. Anastasia DeCobray was not insane. Was she? Only the insane had delusions.

She leans down and places her head in her hands, beginning to cry. The first night she had returned to the TerrorDome she had tried to pretend nothing had happened. She made a rather sparse and apologetic report to the commander on the failure of the project. She had even squirmed when he shouted and screamed at her. Something the commander noticed. Strangely it put all the fire out of his anger and instead he had observed his underling with curiosity. "Baroness, are you okay?" He hissed out, showing a rare bit of...was it sympathy? She just nodded and shakily said aloud, "of course commander. My apologies. Perhaps I am just a bit under the weather.

"Hmm" he had said, not believing a word of it. "Well perhaps you should retire to your quarters. Get some rest. I shall expect the rest of your report in the morning...if you are feeling better. Understood?" He asked with forced venom, an obvious cover for what passed as care in the Cobra ranks. She saluted and turned to leave, not seeing the rather confused terrorist sitting in his throne perplexed at the consequences of his troop's most recent failure to dominate the world.

The Baroness had went back to her quarters and slowly stripped out of her uniform, leaving herself in her lacy red bra and matching panties. She slipped on a rather silky nightdress that covered just down to her mid thigh. Intending to get some sleep and let a bit of rest calm her mind, instead she was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Go away!" She had shouted angrily, only for the door to be kicked open to reveal a smiling Destro. "Anastasia" he had said, his eyes roving over her body lustfully. "You wound me. After all, it has been so long since we have spent quality time together" he says, advancing on her, kicking closed the broken door.

This was not unusual. In the past the Baroness would find herself falling into his arms, ecstatic that he was out of his chilly phase where he would pretend to not have feelings for her. Tonight however, it was different. His look sent shivers down her spine, and not ones of pleasure. She backs up, slowly, towards the rather plain bureau set against her far wall. "Destro, please, not tonight. I am not in the mood" she said, for the first time fearing him. The projector had done much, and one of the things it seemed to make clear instead of muddied, was the naivete she had been suffering under when it came to the metal masked man. What they had wasn't love. It was his selfishness praying on her need.

He doesn't listen, and instead keeps advancing. "Ohh my dear Baroness" he says lavisciously. "That can be fixed," he said before reaching for her. Unfortunately for Destro, his entire body was not metal. With a swift knee to the groin, all the worse for the force and skill put into its delivery, his advance is stopped, his body crumpled to the ground as the Baroness rushed from her room, grabbing only her pistol and her uniform, switching into it surprisingly quickly while she ran through the halls of the Terror Dome. A few troopers were out and about, on guard duty or other miscellaneous chores. She ignores their salutes, instead making her way to the rattler bay as fast as her legs could carry her.

It surprised her that Destro had yet to raise the alarm. Even as she entered the air bay the troops barely paid any attention to her. It was only when she jumped into the cockpit of the nearest Cobra Rattler that the alarm klaxons of the base began to ring, the Cobra infantry around the aircraft, turning their curious gazes away from the Baroness and towards the alarm. "Attention. All Cobra personnel. The Baroness is trying to escape. Stop her" comes the now slightly strained voice of her former lover. The troops are slow to react but eventually they bring their laser rifles to bear on the plane. A few shots get off but it's too little too late. The jet engines of the rattler have already propelled the Baroness and the craft halfway down the runway. She is even able to make to squeeze through the bay doors before they close, streaking off into the night.

In their attempt to stop her, they had limited their ability to react and when the Cobra air force does take to the air there is no sign of the escaping Baroness. The search is called off after three days of nonstop searching leaving a confused Cobra Commander, an amused Dr. Mindbender, an enraged Destro and a disinterested Serpentor to discuss what to do.

All the while the Baroness had ditched her rattler in a swamp outside of a small city she didn't even know the name of. The rest of her escape remains fuzzy. She remembered buying some clothes and a train ticket, and she remembered arriving in San Diego and finding her safe house untouched. After a bit of dusting and cleaning the place became home. What she was supposed to do after all this? She didn't know. Due to her wealth in foreign, practically untraceable,accounts she didn't have to work. Despite this fact, she found herself applying for a job at a local book shop, a job she instantly got. The older woman who ran the store, Carmen, was a very nice lady who enjoyed Anastasia Callera's ,(the alias she was using), company and knowledge of the classics. If only she were at work today she wouldn't feel so empty.

She stops crying, wiping her eyes as the memories of a past that didn't happen returned to the forefront of her mind. She smiled as a memory of a dockside bit of fishing occurred. She knew this didn't happen. But...for the first time in her life...she had happy memories. So what if they were a lie?

She looks out of the window, as if searching for an answer in the faces of passersby. She continues to smile, seeing their faces was a quiet joy for her for a strange unknown reason. She had been fighting for control over these people for so long that she had stopped seeing them as anything less than slaves not yet subjugated to the will of Cobra. She hadn't realized that they could smile and laugh, love and cry like real people. She continues to scan the crowds, smiling wider when she sees a young couple, swinging their daughter in between them.

She looks to the right and that's when her mouth goes limp and her eyes wide.

It was him.

She grabs her coat, and wraps it about her shoulders before rushing down the stairs and out into the street practically knocking over an old man. She doesn't have time to apologize. She didn't even have time to close or lock her own door. She had to get to him, before he receded into the crowd. Luckily for her, the parrot perched on his shoulder helped to distinguish him from the rest, his white sailor hat further serving as a marker for her.

She remembered buying him that hat. She knew it hadn't happened but she remembered her seven year old self saving up her allowance for three weeks to buy her best friend the hat he'd wanted from the Army Navy store. It was a world war two relic so it was a bit more expensive but it was worth it. His smile and arms wrapped around her when she presented it to him had been beyond worth it.

She's getting closer to the man, his back closing to within five feet of her. Part of her mind whispered that this specific man would not be happy to see her. That she would be disappointed. After all, her delusions were not shared by him. They weren't real. But fantasy is so much stronger than truth.

"Hector!" She shouts out, smiling wide as the man turns and she sees his face for the first time in many months. Polly is the first to reach, flapping his wings and screeching. "Eeeeck eeeeck ahh ahhh ahh Cobra! Its Cobra sailor!" He shouts.

Shipwreck hears his name, and turns, seeing the beautiful blonde advancing on him with a purpose, a smile splitting her face as she practically runs. Polly's squawking also reverberates in his ears, mostly on account of the bird being literally in his ear. He can't put the two together. How would this woman know his name? He'd never seen her before. And Cobra? What did Cobra have to do with any of this?

Before he could further reflect on anything he felt the smaller woman's body collided with his own, her arms wrapped around his shoulders and as strange as anything else, her lips pressing against his. Shipwreck can't react. And even if he did wouldn't know how to. Who was this woman and why was she kissing him? The worst part was that the feeling of her lithe and obviously well endowed frame pressing against him, mixed with the softness of her lips, was making it hard for him to focus on any important question. Eventually his arms move in, his hands resting on her waist with the momentary intention of gently pushing her off.

But, again her lips were very soft and demanding. Even from this simple kiss it didn't seem like this woman, whoever she was, would take kindly to being pushed away. So what was the harm in enjoying this feeling? It had been a while. 'Not since Mara' he thought, bringing him back into reality. It was like pulling open a wound, to think about that, but it served to remind the Joe of reality. He couldn't allow this woman to kiss him without knowing her, and what was all that about Cobra coming from Polly?

He parts his lips from her, close to needing breath as it was anyway, and tries to get a good look at the woman, keeping a firm hold of her waist. "Alright lady who are you? How do you know me and why in the name of Davy Jones are you trying to shove your tongue down my throat?" He asks angrily, the memory of what he lost serving to make him that way.

Her mouth opens, ready to laugh and explain that it was her, his childhood friend but is able to stop herself. He'd have no idea what she was talking about, and aside from that it most certainly wasn't the truth. But could she tell him the truth? How would he even react to such a thing?

"It's…..me. The Baroness but please, call me Anastasia or Ana" she whispers, the people moving about them not even seeming to notice the two as they go about their business. The sailor's eyes widen as he takes a moment to look closer at the woman's face. "It is you!" he shouts, moving one of his hands down to his waist, no doubt getting ready to draw his pistol.

"Don't" she says plainly, her hand moving to his own and grasping his wrist. "Please, Hector, wait. Let me explain". Something in her voice causes him to stop, and there was the fact that she hadn't attacked him when she had the chance, at least not with a weapon. 'Unless she could've killed me with her lips' his mind says, reeling from the whole situation. He had just been on his way to a movie. Now? He was taking a top Cobra operative prisoner. "Squawk, so much for leave" Polly says, which Shipwreck couldn't help but agree with. "Please, let's go somewhere and talk. Just the two of us" she adds, her hand still wrapped around his. A smile splits her face and she remains close. It wasn't the Baroness' usual smile which was either sarcastic or cold. This one was warm, and full of affection. It had to be a trick. "Or what?" he asks, having expected an ultimatum to follow. She seems confused and doesn't understand. "Or else what?" she asks. "Well, you want me to do something. You're the Baroness. Usually you have some sort of threat to get what you want". She arches an eyebrow and looks around, turning her head this way and that. He was right, she would never ask something without leverage but then again, that was the old her. But if playing it off as if things were still the same got her what she wanted, mainly being alone with Hector, she would.

"I uhh...planted a bomb in the Ice Cream Shop!" she says excitedly, mentally patting herself on the back for having come up with something so quickly. It's clear from Shipwreck's facial expression that he doesn't believe her though. "The Ice Cream Shop? The one that's closed?" he asks with a smirk causing the woman to look closer at the storefront and allowing her to finally see the "closed for vacation, be back Monday" sign on the door. "Umm...yes?" she says, as if she was asking him. "Think of the property damage" she adds, hoping that it would be enough. With a sigh the sailor looks down at the pavement and shakes his head. "Alright, we'll head back to.." he begins before being cut off, the Baroness beginning to pull him across the street towards her hideout. "I have a place! It's safe. Come on Hector" she says, forcing the man along by virtue of her enthusiasm alone. "Squawk, squawk it's a trap, a trap!"

Hector finds himself agreeing but in the end has to acknowledge that there are too many civvies around to start a fight. One stray shot and someone could be hurt or even killed, which wasn't something he wanted to have to explain to the tribunal. "It could be but better it just happen to me than all these others" he whispers to Polly as they get to the door, the Baroness' stopping to fiddle with her keys until she finds the one and opens the door. "Come on" she says, pulling him and closing it behind her, leaving them alone. Shipwreck turns, about to start speaking again when she leaps at him. "Squawk! Knew it!" Polly cries, flapping her wings and lifting off of the sailor's shoulders as the man falls back, luckily onto a couch. He expects a flurry of kicks and punches, maybe even the drawing of a knife. He doesn't expect to feel the woman's lips on him once more. He opens his eyes to see the Baroness locking onto him, one of her hands reaching up to pull her wig off, allowing her long and dark locks to fall free and fall over their faces, creating a sort of barrier from the outside world. Shipwreck moves his arms up, having been suck against the couch pillows before he searches for a firm grip to push the woman off yet again.

His hands find a purchase on firm flesh, but not as firm as he had hoped. Instead of her waist he found his hands somewhere completely different. 'Wait...this isn't….' he thinks before the Baroness releases his lips with a giggle. "Ohh? Taking a few liberties are we Hector?" she teases, wiggling her rear and allowing the man to get a firmer grasp of where his hands had landed. "I'm...I'm well uhh sorry about that" he says, thinking that it was a little strange to be apologizing to the Baroness. After all, they were mortal enemies and had both shot at each other multiple times on different occasions with the full intention of killing one another.

"Don't be Hector. I'm yours. Free to touch and feel as much as you want" she says, kissing along his jawline while her arms wrap around his neck. "In fact, we're going to be getting a whole lot more close in a minute darling" she says, the venomous smile he had grown accustomed to returning. He couldn't help but gulp as he realized he'd rather have her shoot at him.

_**Five Minutes Later**_

"Hmm...I never realized you were the kinky type Hector but if it's with you I don't mind trying new things. What's our safe word?" she asks with a smile as Hector kneels at her feet, tying the womans feet to the wooden legs of the chair. "Will you shut up?" he asks angrily as he fights the urge to tighten the rope even more. He'd done her arms well enough, or at least he hoped, and now had her tied to the wooden chair. It had been a fight to get the squirming woman in this position but he did it. 'Thank God for Snake Eye's training' he thinks, remembering the multitude of holds he had to use on the amorous woman.

"I don't think I will. You'll have to gag me" she says teasingly, batting her eyes at him and causing the usually boisterous sailor to blush in embarassment. "Why the hell are you like this? What's going on here?" he asks, utterly confused by the entirety of events. Her eyes soften, almost imperceptibly but he takes notice. She tilts her head and smiles. "Because I love you Hector. I love you so much. If only...if only you could understand" she says, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she looks down at her lap, not wanting him to see her cry.

"Ohh, well now don't be like that I don't wanna hear none of that crying stuff alright? None of that crying" he says pacing in front of the woman who continues to sniffle, his mind fixated on the three words she just said. He had no idea what she was talking about and it only made it more confusing. The Baroness didn't love him. She didn't know enough about him to love him. Did she? He shakes away the thought of the Baroness reading a secret file and pining over him, knowing all about him. It was too much like one of those creepy movies where an affair goes to far. Best to keep that out of his mind. Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere until he had some rudimentary answers to what was going on he stops and sits down on the couch, which sat in front of the woman's seated position. His pistol is close at hand and Polly has already found a perch on top of a curtain rod. "Alright, spill. What's going on" he says.

_**Headquarters of Extensive Enterprises**_

"Destro, I do appreciate the fact that the Baroness knows too much however, I will not be spending millions of dollars because you….ARE A SCORNED LOVER!'' the disguised Cobra Commander shouts, making his subordinate wince. This was not going to be easy. He needed the commander on his side if he wanted his plans to work and that required that the usually stupid man not know why he was seeking the Baroness.

"My dear Commander, I am merely interested in the security of Cobra. The Baroness knows much about…."

"Be silent! I am already aware of this. However, it has been months since we have seen her. If she was going to spill the beans she would have done it already. We haven't found her, which means nobody else has. You've spent millions on a snipe hunt!" the man screams, his high pitched nasally voice making Destro's ears hurt while the other high ranking Cobra officers sit and snicker. Zartan was laughing the hardest while Dr. Mindbender had a smirk on his face while he leaned back against a desk. Destro could not help his scowl. He would make the doctor pay for costing him the pleasure of the Baroness' body.

The Commander steps down and advances on Destro, grasping the steel masked man by the tunic and pulling him upwards, showing uncharacteristic strength and surprisingly intimidating the man. "Hear my words Destro, and heed them. For the moment, the Baroness issue is resolved. Until we have more to go on it is over. Zartan.." he says, pausing to cast a look at the Cobra spy, "will keep his eyes and ears open. Perhaps use his network to find him. However, we will not endanger our current plans over the stirrings of your pants. Do I make myself clear?" he hisses into the mans face.

"Yes Commander" he says, gritting out the response. He had no intention of listening however, and after this little stunt he had decided that the Commander's days were now numbered.

"Good" the man says, releasing the other man's tunic and letting him fall to the ground. "Do not be so glum Destro. Women will be throwing themselves at you after this is all said and done. We must only follow my plan. It is all coming together quite nicely" he says before turning to the others. "Doctor. If you will be so kind, I am ready to continue our experimentation now" he says before moving towards the secret elevator door and opening it, the bald man quickly hurrying to catch up. "Of course, of course Commander. Lets" he says, apparently happy at having a willing test subject. This had been going on for close to a year, and the changes that were slowly manifesting within the Commander must be linked with them. From his position on the floor however, Destro could not bring himself to think on it. Instead, his mind was fixed on the Baroness. Despite the order he had received he was keen on continuing the search. However, he would have to be discrete.

He gets up and slowly turns to the other man in the room. Zartan had not left with the others and now sat on a desk, arms crossed as he waited with a smirk. As much as he detested having to ask, Destro knew he had no other options and there was no one on Earth who epitomized the idea of "discrete" more than the shapeshifter.

"Zartan. Let us talk business…"

_**Back In San Diego**_

The silence that fills the room after the Baroness' tale was palpable, almost oppressive. She couldn't help but wait with baited breath on what the man would say. Her complicity in what had been undoubtedly a traumatic experience would inspire anger, and despite the fact that she knew she deserved it, she feared the thought of him yelling at her. Hitting her, punching her. Many of her failures as a frontline commander had led to this before, except with Destro administering the abuse. With her newfound memories, the thought of Shipwreck, her Hector, doing the same to her filled her heart with dread. She pressed further however and realized that he wasn't "her Hector" and that the outpouring of abuse that would inevitably follow would be nothing more than revenge to the man. Deserved revenge meted out on an enemy prisoner of war.

She was afraid once more.

"So, you decided to torture me, make me as happy as I ever was and then rip it away from me...before winding up caught in your own trap?" the man sitting across from her asks, his voice masked in an air of casual disinterest. Underneath, he was a whirlwind of emotion and felt the rage and sadness bubble up within him once more.

Anastasia nods, her tears dripping freely down her eyelids and cheeks. "Yes. I'm so sorry Hector. It was Mindbender's plan" she says, wanting to absolve herself of some of the guilt by attaching the other man's name to the plot. It would be impossible however, to distance herself completely. She was there, and had eagerly participated with cold detachment to Hector's suffering in the hope of yielding information about the Joes to Cobra. She would take it all back, if only she could.

"Sounds like you got what was coming to you" he says, turning to pick up the phone on the end table and dialing. "What are you doing?" she asks, worry lacing through her words. "Calling the Joes. We're taking you in" he says, pressing the phone to his ear and mouth and waiting for someone to pick up. He'd called the first person he could think of, and was now waiting to hear Duke's voice on the other end. "Come on, come on, pick up" he says until the phone goes to voice mail. "This is G.I Joe. Due to federal regulations the entire Joe team has been ordered to take leave unless called back into active duty. The regular army maintains its watch over our country. Thank you and call again" the gruff, almost angry sounding voice of his commander comes in, the man obviously being unhappy at the circumstances.

"Damn" the sailor says to himself, remembering their orders in regards to Cobra prisoners. Due to the danger posed by Cobra it was against regulations to turn them over to any non-Joe organization, the threat of infiltration or escape being too high. Instead, each Joe was ordered to hold their captive personally until they could make contact with other Joes. The order was given in the manual and was binding even here. If Shipwreck handed over the Baroness and she escaped, he'd be liable for any damage she did. "Dammit" he says, repeating his previous sentiment before looking up at the smiling Baroness. He can't help the scowl that forces its way onto his face. "Why the hell do you seem so happy?" he asks, not relishing the thought of being stuck with the Baroness for a week, especially while she was under the illusion of being in love with him and trying to taste his windpipe every chance she got.

"Ohh, me? Nothing. I'm not happy. Grrr, so upset" she teases, sticking out her tongue at him before smiling once more. "Untie me Hector. I wont hurt anyone. Especially not you. I promise"

"Your promise doesn't mean anything snake" he shouts, standing up and pacing about the room again, not noticing the sad smile that breaks out on her face. "Cross the rigging and hope to swim" she says causing the man to stop and turn. "And what the hell does that even mean?" he asks, causing her to frown at his lack of recognition before she shakes her thoughts away. After all, none of it actually happened. "It was something we used to say to each other as children" she explains. "WE didn't say anything to each other as children. We didn't even know each other" he says before she rolls her eyes. "I know that but I remember it and think it happened so I'll just say it did unless you can get Mindbender to fix me" she says with a pointed glare. Shipwreck just sighs and sits down on the sofa again, remembering how vivid fake memories could be.

"Alright, might as well tell me what you think happened"

_**Anastasia's Memory Age Ten**_

The sun was going down and the streetlights lining the docks had just switched on. Other children would be heading home, their parents wanting them back at a certain time or worrying for them otherwise. Anastasia DeCobray had no such worries. Her mother would be out and her father too drunk to care. So the young girl stayed out, walking about the docks and staring at the setting sun, appearing to go under the waves to the west.

The tears stream down her face and she sniffles, unable to keep it in. Her first day at school had been a disaster. She walked into her class, a bright smile splitting her face. When her family moved to the United States she had made every effort to fit in, learning English as best as she could and trying to get a sense of what kids wore.

Instead, everyone laughed at her accent and avoided her like the plague. She hadn't made a single friend and sat alone at lunch and played alone with her doll during recess. When she got home nobody was there to greet her. Her parents hadn't been interested in her first day in school, being too preoccupied with their own lives. Despite her initial hopes, the move to America hadn't changed anything.

"Hey, why are you crying?" asks a voice from behind her, and she turns to see a young boy carrying a fishing pole and a tackle box. He had unruly black hair and was wearing a blue t-shirt and jeans. She stared at him before wiping her tears away. "It's nothing" she says, cringing inwardly as her accent is revealed. "Doesn't seem like nothing" he says, moving over to the edge of the dock and setting down his tackle box and opening it before sitting down to rummage through it.

She didn't know why but she suddenly felt an intense urge to tell him what was wrong. "My family just moved here and I wanted to make friends but...I didn't make any. They don't like my accent" she says in explanation, wanting to go and just sit down next to the boy but not wanting to presume too much already. He turns and nods, as if understanding her for the first time. "Ohh. Well that's stupid. I can understand you fine. It's cool anyway" he says, pulling out a lure and a hook, bringing his pole forward to set it up.

"You think so? My accent is cool?" she asks shyly, crossing her feet and blushing. "Uhh hmm. It makes you different. Which is cool" he says, throwing the line into the water and pushing his legs over the side, allowing them to dangle. "People made fun of me for being adopted but that stopped when I smashed in Tommy Miller's nose. Want me to punch the guys who made fun of you?" he asks, fully meaning it. His expression causes Anastasia to laugh and move even closer. "No but...can we be friends?" she asks, as Hector thinks it over for a second. "Sure" he says with a shrug. She wants to squeal and throw her arms around him but stops herself, not wanting to scare him. "So what's your name?" he asks. "And sit down next to me. Hold this too" he says, handing over a flashlight to her. She quickly complies, moving as close as she can and dangling her legs over the side, fighting her fear of something coming up and snatching her. "Anastasia. Yours?" she asks, turning on the flashlight and waiting for his next direction.

"Hector, and shine that light on the water. It attracts crabs which attracts fish" he says, his eyes still focused on the blue lure that bobs in the water. "Okay" she says, having a bit of fun already. "Are you going to catch a fish?" she asks, the excitement clear in her voice. "I dunno. Maybe. Why?" he asks, turning to her. "I've never caught a fish" she explains, having never been close enough to the water to do so. "Ohh, well tomorrow I'll bring another rod and teach you" he says, pulling upwards on the line to try and draw the fish's attention to it. "Really? You will?" she asks, excited about not only learning how to fish but also about already planning on seeing her friend again. "Said I would didn't I?" he asks. She nods and smiles, hugging her friend with one arm while the other keeps the light on the water. "Thank you Hector. You're my best friend" she says causing the boy to smile. "Well I'm just your first friend. You'll make more and probably meet your best friend later" he says, causing her to smile and shake her head. "I don't think so" she says, using the chilly wind as an excuse to stay close.

_**Anastasia's Memory Age 16**_

"Come on Ana, I'm fishing here" he says, trying to focus on the pole as his amorous girlfriend peppers kisses along his cheek. "Hmm, so am I" she says, her hand sneaking up his chest and trying to slip past the fabric by undoing a button. "We'll you might just catch something" he says, a smile and slight blush on his face as he moves his pole to the side and moves his hands to her waist, shifting slightly and pulling her close. She kisses his lips fiercely, molding her body to his as best as she could with their position on the side of the dock.

Both had grown a lot since their first meeting on the dock, and much had changed. Hector had grown up strong and handsome, the first inkling of a beard starting to appear on his face. He attracted a lot of female attention, especially at their highschool. The girls were easily kept away though, Ana, as she came to be known, being very territorial. Not that Hector minded. He even reciprocated it. Since the age of thirteen when Ana began to physically mature, male attitudes towards the "weird foreign girl" had changed and Hector found himself fighting the other boys more and more, except this time it was over a girl instead of him being adopted. As much as she discouraged it Ana couldn't help but swoon when he'd get up and put a guy in his place for saying something to her.

"I think I caught what I was looking for" she teases, letting his lips go for a moment before moving right back in. "You caught me all right. Hook, line and sinker" he says, turning her head to trace a line of kisses along her neck, his hand gently stroking her sides through her flannel shirt. "I love you Ana" he whispers against her skin, his breath and stubble tickling against her. Her hand reaches up and moves behind his neck, pulling him in closer. "Ohh, Hector, I love you too. So much" she whispers back, feeling as if she was in heaven. He begins to pull back and Ana reluctantly lets him go but stays close, idly rubbing the side of face. "What are you planning on doing after school?" she asks out of the blue, taking Hector aback.

"Well uhh, I don't know Ana. I was...well I was thinking about the Navy" he says simply, his hand moving up and gently stroking her cheek. She pushes herself into his touch and smiles, reaching up to stroke the back of his hand. "Ohh? Well that makes sense to be honest" she says before pouting. "And what about me? What happens to me when you leave?" she asks teasingly causing the man to cough to hide his nervousness. He'd been having these thoughts for a while and didn't know how to properly communicate them. He certainly didn't want to do it now.

"Well uhh, I was hoping for you to be a part of it all too you know?" he says, which causes Anastasia to quirk her eyebrow. "Ohh? You want me to join the Navy too?" she asks teasingly, half considering the idea herself. It wouldn't be too bad would it? Maybe she could even find a way to get herself stationed wherever Hector would be. Her father's money and influence might finally come in handy, as long as she asked him while he was drunk.

"Well no, not unless you wanted to but either way I...well I wanted us to get married eventually you know? If you wanted to. Not now or anything, ahhh dammit" he says, ready to apologize before Ana wraps her arms around his shoulders and kisses him. "That better not have been your proposal" she says teasingly, nuzzling against him while her heart tries to beat out of her chest. "But...when you do ask...later on…" she adds teasingly, "I'll say yes".

Before anymore can be said a creaking is heard and both look down just in time to see the wooden plank they are sitting on cave in, sending both straight into the water below. Ana surfaces and spits out water while Hector is already treading water. "Are you alright?" he asks, worry in his voice until she nods. "I know how to swim. I had a good teacher" she says, having also been taught how to swim by her boyfriend.

"That's good" he says laughing. "He was kind of cute too" Ana adds with a wink. "Ohh? Should I be jealous?" he asks, just as a fish nibbles on his line and takes the bait, taking the pole, which was still on the dock, shooting off into the water and into the depths. "Damn, that was a big one too" he says, watching as his pole vanishes.

"A huge one it seems. Maybe it was a shark" Ana says, worry creeping into her voice and fear up her spine. Hector just arches an eyebrow and smirks. "Well, sharks do love to attack smoking hot babes like yourself. I wonder if any are around" he jokes before beginning to swim closer to her, mumbling the Jaws theme. "Hector!" she screeches, laughing as her fear is forgotten. "There is no Hector. Call me Jaws" he teases, lunging after her as she swims away. He catches her, pulling her too him by her foot and smiling at her. "My what big teeth you have Mr. Shark" she says, her dark locks plastered to her forehead and cheek. He reaches up and brushes them away before moving into her neck. "All the better to nibble you with my dear".

"Hector!" she shouts, letting out excited squeals heard along the dock.


End file.
